Grace Institute: The Pauline Epistles: Syllabus : Creating a Book Chart

Syllabus: Creating a Book Chart Survey of the New Testament: The Pauline Epistles Winter 2006

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Creating a Book Chart

Why do a Book Chart?

1. To help understand the relationship of the parts of the passage to each other and to the whole.
2. To remember the main themes of a large portion of scripture.
3. To fit each passage into its proper context.
4. Provides an excellent summary of main ideas of scripture.

Looking for Structure

1. Don't let chapter & verse breaks dictate your structure (or study bibles either!)
2. Look for changes in the subject matter.
3. Look for connecting phrases (e.g. “So then,” “Finally, brethren,” “Therefore,” “And now concerning.”)
4. Look for significant changes in persons involved (e.g. Eph 6:1-4, “Children”, “Fathers”.)
5. Look for changes in time or place, especially in narrative or historical literature.
6. Look for summarizing statements (see Acts)

Developing a Book Chart

Summarizing the paragraph

Write down the subject/verb/object of each sentence in the paragraph. Then read each of these sentence cores together. This will help you find the main point of the paragraph.

Use the subject-verb-object you found to summarize each sentence in the paragraph in 2 to 5 words. Write them down in a list. What is the overall idea of the paragraph? Summarize this in a 2 to 5 word title. Write that down in your book chart by paragraph.

Hint : If Paul is asking a question, his answer will probably be the main point of the paragraph.

Summarizing the sections

Look at the paragraphs coming before and after the target text. What paragraphs seem to have related topics? What distinguishes one paragraph from the next? Is it a change of audience or context, but the same overall topic? If so, draw a box around those paragraphs and write a 2 – 5 word title for this section.

Summarizing the book

Look at each section you created. Are there consistent themes in connecting sections? If so, draw a box around those sections and write a 2 to 5 word title for this section. Continue the process until you encompass the entire book. Then determine a 2 to 5 word “theme” for the entire book.

Assignment

Complete a simple book chart for each of the Pauline epistles. In addition to the paragraph summaries, try to show at least two levels of section break and to determine the overall theme of the book.